Drawbridge studies and a note on the living bastion
Red-chalk sketches; earthwork reinforced with layers of willow
Drawn in red chalk (sanguine), the sheet carries sketches identified in the caption as two figures of a drawbridge at the top, and below a larger stepped, hatched structure. A short note headed 'Bastion' prescribes how to build up the rampart: at every half-braccio of earth a layer of willows, or of fresh willow-branches, should be laid in. Drawings and note together concern the construction of a fortified earthwork.
On this page
Two red-chalk figures of a drawbridge
The upper part of the sheet bears two faint red-chalk sketches, described in the caption as figures of a drawbridge, one an angled scoop-like form and the other a slatted frame. No transcribed writing accompanies the drawings themselves.
Reinforcing the bastion earth with willow layers
The note prescribes that the living bastion have laid into it, at every half-braccio of earth, a layer of willows or of fresh willow-branches. This is a soil-reinforcement technique for building up a stable rampart.